Fuck you Rupert Murdoch. And you Colby Cosh, Jonathon Kay, Paul Wells, and Andrew Coyne. You are all fucking doomed. I will see you working behind the counter of McD's before I die, and I will be rude to you. Deal with it.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Purported comedian Guy Earle his back in the news, trying to convince a judge that assaulting lesbians is free speech. Because the article through the link is a piece of crap, and contains several falsehoods about the context of the incident, I would just note a few bits from the BCHRT decision:

Kudos to Christy Clark, no matter how late she is to the game or how equivocal her position. I actually disagree a bit with Rafe Mair on this latest development. The B.C. Libs, NDP, Greens, and Conservatives are all aligned against the Northern Gateway pipeline as currently conceived. Since Ms. Redford seems unbending, this amounts to them all being (for the moment at least) aligned against the pipeline. The future has yet to unfold and we cannot anticipate it. Nor is there a need to.

And, as an x-BCer, it wouldn't bother me too much if the folks there did sell out for filthy lucre, even though my personal preference would be for the pipeline to die. If Enbridge and the blue-eyed sheikhs from Alberta can sweeten the pot enough--with money or safety assurances-- to win over the various First Nations and everyone else affected along the route, then it is really their decision for me to respect. Most likely though, this will not transpire, in which case I will happily chain myself to the tree one down from Mr. Mair when the time comes.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

On an unrelated note, WK is totally fucked up in the head re Christy Clark and Northern Gateway. B.C. for B.C.ers! Down with the blue eyed sheikhs! Through these mountains and verdant fields, no oil shall pass.

David Menzies says he convinced a 14 year old kid to dress in a Burka and buy booze at an LCBO. David Menzies has brought his own son into his stories before. Here and here. Mind you, if it is Menzies Jr. this latest story has his age wrong, Menzies' kid being about 10 or 11 (according to the dates on the earlier pieces). But then, this is Menzies:

It looks like Tim Ball's legal defense in the defamation suit brought against him by climate scientist Michael Mann has gone entirely off the rails. Its a long story, and one that I must admit fell off the radar for me to the point where I didn't realize how weird it was all getting.

It began back in March of 2011, when Ball accused Mann of scientific misconduct for his role in what has come to be known as "Climategate". Mann launched a defamation suit, and Ball turned for legal advice to one John O'Sullivan, co-author and driving force behind Slaying The Sky Dragon, a book purporting to "expose the climate fraud". You've heard it all before; the only thing distinguishing Sky Dragon from other similar titles was its sheer awfulness; not even the skeptic friendly Judith Curry could get behind its theories.

Now, the thing with it is, he's not kidding. Every point in the above has been thoroughly documented, even the last bit. For example, this series of emails traces the laborious process by which Mr. Skolnick confirmed that O'Sullivan purchased his law degree from "Hill University", an on-line diploma mill that sells any degree in any field with a "promised delivery in just 14 days!" Here is a brief account of O'Sullivan's trial, and if you are so inclined, Vanilla Girl can be found through Google.

So what's the take-away message? I dunno. That within denier circles they bullshit one another as thoroughly as they do the general public? That anyone can practice this law thingy in B.C.? We can definitely conclude that Tim Ball's legal fees have been going up a bit recently.

PS. A quick note. As several people have noted, you can't actually drive from Vancouver to Victoria, as it is located on Vancouver Island. The car ferry you take over does take about two hours to get there (1 hour 40 minutes to be more precise). I'm not sure if that's what Skolnick meant to say or not.

Back in the late 80s when Anthony Robbins did his thing nobody got their tootsies burned, or would admit to it. He had such a smile, he was so tall--half his audience orgasmed in their pants just watching him talk. And his audience was 80% sales-people, so not so easy to bamboozle--its hard to con a con, as they say.

I can't imagine that Hudak's primary purpose in the white paper is to cripple the pro-choice movement in Ontario. It's to cripple unions. But of course, weaken them and you weaken the position of anyone who benefits from the good work they do. To the point where, if you substitute your favorite right wing cause for abortion in the above article, Hudak's proposals give you a mechanism by which a small minority within the union can prevent it from doing pretty much anything. Sneaky fellow.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

A pop tin exploding in your freezer sounds a lot like a gunshot these days to a jumpy Scarberian. I thought I had a gangster in my fridge, but it turned out to be a frozen can of my wife's cherry cola.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

And really that should be the end of it. Everyone says stuff that's dumb, esp. on The Internet. Usually, just admitting that what you've said is dumb and saying sorry is the cure. Always worked for me, anyhow.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The longer version can be found here, but, essentially the serial plagiarism of Ed Wegman and his protege Yasmin Said has begun to catch up with them. They are both off the editorial board at Computatoonal Statistics, and Said seems to be out entirely at George Mason University. Congrats to DC and John Mashey, who ferreted out the pair's dirty deeds.

More Wegmania from this site can be found here. And on Desmogblog, here.

That's all based on their opposition to Northern Gateway, I'd wager. And, somewhat more surprisingly (perhaps), they're ahead in in Saskatoba:

My theory here: The West is fragmenting culturally and politically, as everyone not living in Alberta begins to realize that the levers of power in Alta. are all controlled by a bunch of oily dicks, and their values are not B.C. values or Manitoba values or Sask. values (here again, Northern Gateway overwhelms all other issues).

Nice to see that the Libs are leading again somewhere, though. Fredericton is as good a power base as any, I suppose.

PS. The other story is the rise in the Green vote, which was also noted in the last EKOS poll.

I don't think this is intentionally mussed, "I'm sexy when I'm not even trying" hair. I think this is "I just woke up and didn't look in the mirror" hair. The kind of hair you get when you've been demoted and relegated to the back bench nearest the men's room and don't give a crap any more. It is not the hair of a man at peace within himself. This is "man on the edge of despair" hair. I hope Mr. Anders' friends are keeping an eye on him.

He said it right in the provincial capital, too, so everyone in B.C. will read about it or see it on the television. I suspect the NDP have polls telling them how the issue plays out there.

Meanwhile LPoC interim leader Bob Rae's latest intervention re the tar sands was watery mush served with decaf coffee. Everyone is going to say that they are for the responsible development of our unconventional oil supplies, so Rae's remarks do nothing to distinguish the federal Liberals from its rivals. I understand that he doesn't want to bind the hands of his permanent replacement, but only particular stands for or against particular projects (Northern Gateway, Kinder Morgan, Keystone XL) will count with B.C. voters come election 2015.

If you'd were asked to dangle your wiggler to hook a murdering cannibal you might think twice too. Isn't it enough that the man loves animals? And when it comes down to tabulating history's great Jews, I suspect that Ron Jeremy will be at the top of the list with Freud, Jesus, Bob Rae, and Wittgenstein. For many years, "The Warthog" truly was the king of the adult film industry, during which time he was immortalized in both poetry and song by, among many others, the famous ska/punk outfitSublime.

And I remember an interview with him in Now Magazine (I think) when he was asked if his parents were down on him because he was a porn star. He said (and I am paraphrasing, obviously): Hell, no, they're liberal jews. That's probably the last time in my life that I wept aloud with joyful tears. It confirmed me in my Liberalness.

So I've always had a soft spot for his little tribe. Though they have disappointed me terribly in recent years. Harry! Meir!

Sunday, July 08, 2012

Since the negative consequences of Bill C-31 have become apparent over the last month or so--for example, many refugee claimants will lose access to life-saving drugs such as insulin, and to preventive care--several Jewish organizations have expressed concerns with the law. They have been especially troubled by those sections of it relating to the prevention of illegitimate refugee claims. Designating countries like Hungary as "safe" would make it near impossible for claims from Hungarian Roma to succeed, even though the country is far from safe for this particular minority group. And due to their common experiences of persecution during the 2nd World War, the Jewish and Roma communities have often been thought to share an historical bond.

Well, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has issued a statement that comes across as both minimalist and mush-mouthed. From the Globe article linked above:

Shimon Fogel, the CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said his organization agrees with many of the changes the Conservative government has made to refugee policy and with the goal of preventing bogus claims. But, with regard to the health benefits, “we have some concerns, and we have registered some of them with the government.”

So, in other words, kiss the Roma good-by. And CIJA's other objections will apparently be whispered to the relevant government minister behind closed doors where they can be noted and then safely ignored.

B'nai Brith's position on the legislation, on the other hand, is a complete mystery. They've said nothing in the newspapers or on their website that I can find, and have not (yet) responded to the email I sent them. Perhaps, however, this story from June 26th offers a clue. In it, a human rights lawyer named David Matas is quoted at length, as he is representing a number of church groups who have challenged C-31 in court. And good on him for that. But not mentioned anywhere in the piece is the fact that Mr. Matas is senior legal counsel to B'nai Brith Canada. Now, Mr. Matas has done considerable good work outside of BB, but it nevertheless seems significant to me that in the case of Bill C-31 he has been forced to act without the imprimatur of the organization he is most closely associated with

So why the silence/near-silence from Canada's two most important Jewish organizations? Well, one can only speculate, and so I would speculate that they have already been courted by the Harper government in the form of its unrelenting support for Israel. Here, as in the case of Bill C-304, the government has asked for their silence as a quid pro quo. To me that sounds like a crummy deal, but it seems one that they have been willing to make.

Thursday, July 05, 2012

If your intention is to stage a photo-op showing Mayor Ford working hard for the tax payers, it's not a good idea to take a shot of him with a bottle of McIlhenny's tobasco sauce on his desk. There's a steak hidden just off-camera somewhere. Count on it.

Richard Warman watching Warren Kinsella's band play for the troops at Camp Pendleton‏. I have warned Warren about playing that kind of music in front of men with guns, but its not my problem. Also, congrats to Richard on his recent promotion.

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

...comes out against Northern Gateway. Do the federal Liberals have a position on this issue? I mean, I know we're Pro-reefer, and since the recent B.C. ruling, many have suggested that the party come out as in favor of euthanasia, so maybe the LPoC is set to position itself as the "get high and kill grandma" party. Which actually kind of works for me. But on issues re resource extraction, unceded First Nation's land, and economic development...is there anything to be said?

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Esp. if you vote NDP or Green. Frank Graves suggests that the Green numbers are due to Elizabeth May's personal positives. If you look at the B.C. breakdown, I would suggest the Northern Gateway fight has something to do with it as well.